Bottom marginal signal for typewriters



June 10 1924.

1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 25..

June 10 1924. 1,496,802

F. E. WHITLATCH so'r'rom MARGINAL SIGNAL FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed Oct. 25 1921 a sheets-sheet 2 Patented Fe 10, 1924. v

FLOYD E. WEITLATCH, F MUSKOGEE, a: a

BOTTOM MINAL SIGNAL FOR TYPE 2';

Application filed October 25, 1921. gerial Ho. 510,299.

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FLOYD E. VI-IITLATQH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Muskogee, in the county of Muskogee and 5 State of Oklahoma,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottom Marginal Signals for Typewriters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming art of this specification. This invention re ates to a device for use on typewriters for indicating to the operator that the sheet being written upon has been typed' to the predetermined bottom margin, thus permitting the operator to preserve a uniform bottom margin on all the sheets.

The object-of the resent invention is to produce a device of t is nature that will be set by a feeler mechanism or detector of'delicate touch and operated by the rugged carriage return and line spacing mechanism.

A further object of the present invention is to produce a warning device that may be adjusted to produce a signal at a previously chosen distance from the bottom of a sheet of paper without respect to the lengthof thepaper. Other various objects of the present invention are set forth in the claims, among others being the provision of an audible signal produced during the operation of the line shifting mechanism and repeated at the close of such operation; the provision of a sharp, clear and loud signal upon reaching a definite margin at the bottom of the paper, this being possible by reason of the fact that the feeler mechanism for determining the position of the sheet of paper does not in itself operate the bell but'merely causes a change in position of other mechanism which in turn controls the operation of the bell: and the provision of a'feeler mecha nism sufiiciently delicate to detect the passage of the bottom of a sheet of very thin paper.

One of the great advantages in the present device is due to the fact that the mechanism can be installed on a standard typewriter without any radical change in the present Y construction, the added parts being so designed that they can be secured. to the end wall of'the typewriter carriage frame without in any way affecting the operation of 5 any of the present mechanisms.

Typists who are articular about their work frequently criticize the lack of provision in the now standard type of front strilge visible typewriters of means. for preserving a uniform bottom margin. In the old style machine it was possible to raise the carriage and see exactly how much space was Ieft, a;nd it was also possible to scratch a mark on one of the paper-holding finers so that a uniform bottom margin coul be had, but since in the visible typewriters the platen is movable only in the direction of its longitudinal axis, except in some machines for shifting, it is impossible to see the location of the bottom of the paper.

Aside from the great advantage in neat ness, it is a great convenience for even an ordinary typist to know when she approaches the bottom of the sheet of pa er and to be able to tell how much writlng space remains as at times the operator will write on the very edge itself absolutely ruining the appearance of the page.

In the present invention means are ro so vided for actuating. a signal, here an au ible one illustrated as a gong, at a predetermined time so as to notify the operator of thetypewriter that the lastline to be written on the sheet has been completed, thus eliminating the requirement that the operator must watch the position of the paper and also insuring an absolute even margin at the bottom of the page of such width as to give the page a neat appearance.

In a device of this nature there are two main requirements; one, that the margin selector shall be adjustable so that when the left hand mar in is made small the bottom margin may e shortened preserving the neatness of the page, and the other thatthe signal shall be one to control attention. If the gong were controlled'direotly by the feeler or detector the sound would necessarily be very weak so that it is essential in order to have a practical device that the detector be delicately poised and operate only some intermediate link in the mechanism, leaving the operation of the bell to mechanism requiring no delicacy of touch.

Tn the present invention both of these objects are well taken care of, the ringing o the gong being caused by the hand operated carriage return lever which not only returns the carriage to the right hand side of the machine when the end of the line has been reached, but also causes the rotation of the platen of the typewriter into position to type a new line. The detector mechanism is on the opposite side of the metal .side piece of the carriage frame and is delicately poised by an extremely weak spring, this mechanism serving merely to advance or retract a tiny slide not in contact with any mechanism when it moves, but which later serves to elevate a trip rod causing such rod to assume an inoperative position when the detector is held in writing position by the presence of a sheet of paper on the platen.

It should be particularly noted that not only is the sound of the gong in the present invention loud and clear, but that it is struck at a time when the operator is not engaged in writing. the first sound or sounds being struck at the beginning of the line shifting operation and the second sound or sounds being struck immediately after the close of the carriage shitting stroke. each of these two or four signals being given between the writing of what should be the last line and the bringing of the mechanism into position to write the next line. A further and important advantage of the present mechanism is that, should the operator deliberately ignore this repeated warning and write a further line the warning will be repeated twice at the close of each succeeding line.

In the drawings,-

Figure l is a plan view its preferred form;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation viewed from the left hand end of the typewriter;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the mechanism as viewed from the platen or inner side;

Fig. i is a .tront elevation showing the device after a sheet of paper has been inserted in the typewriter;

Fig; 5 is a similar view snowing the position of the mechanism after the bottom of the paper has passed the feeler or detector here shown as roller;

Fig. 6 is an elevation showing about to be raised;

Fig. "Z is a sectional elevation taken on the broken line 7-7 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is an elevation of the slide in signal causing position;

Fig. 9 is a similar view. but showing th slide mai'iifolding position.

of my device in the trip rod i iaaaoa Figs. 10 and 11 are views showing the bell-ringing mechanism.

While this device is capable of being placed upon any standard visible typewriting machine, for convenience of illustration 1 have shown a single embodiment of the invention as T have applied it to an Underwood typewriter. The platen 10 is of the standard type with the single exception that T have cut a shallow grieve 11 near the left hand edge slightly beyond the position corresponding to zero on the scale. This platen is journaled as usual in the triangular metal end 14 of the carriage frame and revolved about its axis by the hand wheel 15 or by the usual carriage return lever 18 pivoted to the carriage frame as at 19. this lever. as is customary, performing the two functions of causing the return of the typewriter to the right by its the edge of the slot covered by the nickel cap plate 20, and also causing the rotation of the platen by shifting the carrier arm 22 to which is pivoted the pawl 23 which operates the ratchet wheel 25 secured to the platen shaft.

The mechanism of the present invention all located near and is carried by the end 14: of the carriage frame and consists gen erally in three parts, namely; the detector mechanism carried on the underside 01E. the frame, the reciprocating and bell-ringing mechanism carried on the outside of the frame, and the small slide which forms the.

connecting link between the two sets of mechanism just mentioned.

On the carrier arm 22 which is recipro cated by the carriage return lever 18. against the tension of a spring 27 connected to the pin 28 on the carrier arm and a similar pin 29 on the end 14:, is pivoted a trip rod 81. carrying at its free end a trip 32. This trip rod is held at its front end by its pivot and its movementat its free end is limited in an upward direction by engagement with the end 14 and is limitedin downward extent by engagement with a pin 34 carried bythe carrier arm 22, this pin 34 resting in a slot in thetrip rod 31 when the latter is in its lowermost position. face of the trip rod 31 lies in a plane parallel with the bottom surface of the end 14' when the trip rod is raised. The bottom surface of the trip rod is provided with a curved recess 36 so as to clear the slide 38 except when the carrier arm 22 is being reciprocated. I

lVith the slide 38 in the position shown in Fig. 2. in which position the mechanism 'would be when no paper is in the machine.

the trip rod 31 is reciprocated with the carrier arm 22 and the trip 82- moves in a horizontal plane in which is also located the usped projecting tongue 39 extending from the v-\ 'inging tri er plate ttl which is pin I striking against The rear upper sur- .11.

till

aeeasoa oted to the bracket 41 and carries the angular wire 42 which forms the shaft of the hammer 43.

At each stroke of the carrier rod 22 the trip 32 engages the curved edge of the tongue 39 and with a cam-like movement causes the trigger plate 40 to swing about its pivot in the lugs 46 extending from the bracket 41 and causes the hammer 43 to rise and strike the top of the gong 47. As the trip 32 passes the tongue 39 the latter will drop by gravity and will cause the striking of a sound blow of the hammer on the gong.

When the carriage has been moved to the right the lever 18 is released and as the carrier bar 22 moves forward the trip 32 again engages the double curved tongue 39 and causes the hammer to strike the gong once above and once below its center as before upon completion of the oscillation of the carriage return lever, thus giving four separate strokes of the gong to each complete movement of the lever 18.

With the slide 38 in the position shown in Fig. 6 the rearward movement of the carrier arm 22 brings the edge of the recess 36 in the trip rod 31 into engagement with the slide and since this rod is free to move upward it rises out of contact with the headed pin 34 thus moving the trip 32 into a plane not in the path of the tongue'39. With the slide in this position, therefore, the gong is not sounded, but at the'completion of each shifting of the platen by the lever 18 the slide 38 is entirely out of contact with any of the parts so far described,'lying within the recess'36, but out of contact with the walls thereof.

The slide 38 is a small piece of sheet metal having an outer end 52 and a lower and larger end 53, the former being cut away to provide a shoulder 54 for engagement by the hinged plate 55 which controls the movement of thisslide. The slide is located within and held in position by a guide56 having channeled ends 57 and 58, the guide being fastened to a small projection 60 forming part of the standard Underwood typewriter and which has a notch 61 in its upper edge for the purpose of guiding the sheet metal carrier arm 22. 'At its inner end,

' that is, the end nearest the platen, the slide 38 carries a relatively weak curved spring 63 which rests in all positions against the peripheral edge of the hinged plate 55.

In the position shown in Fig. 8 the detector 64 is within the groove 11 in the platen. The spring is now. in its most expanded position and the slide is in its outer position and held in such position by contact of the hinged plate 55 with the shoulder 54. In Fig. 4 the spring 63 is somewhat compressed, a number of sheets of paper being in the machine. In this view the slide is at the inner limit of its travel with the shoulder 65 in contact with the carrier bar 22. In Fig. 9 theslide is in exactly the same position as in Fig.7 4, but since the typewriter isnow being used for manifolding the detector 64 is held at some little distance from the platen and the spring 63 is now compressed still further.

It will thus be seen that the presence of even the thinnest sheet of tissue paper between the platen 10 and the indicator roller 64 will cause movement of the slide, and that the amount of paper in the machine has no effect on the position of the slide, the irregularity inthe size or amount of paper being gaken care of by the. resilience of the spring The mechanism for controlling the position of the slide 38 will now be described. On the inner face of the end wall 14 of the typewriter carriage frame is secured, by means of screws 66 or other fastenings, a base plate 67 having a flanged collar 68' serv ing as a pivotal mounting for the rotary disk 69 as best seen in'Fig. 7.

The'base plate. 67 is provided with an arcuate portion 71 having therein a plurality of holes 72 all equidistant from the center of the base plate 67, this point being in the axis of the platen. The upturned ends 7301? the arcuate portion 71 serve as stops to engage the indicator extension 74 of the rotary disk 69, this extension being somewhat resilient and having a locking in .75 adapted to engage any one of the holes 2, holding the rotary disk and the relatively stationary base plate 67 in the tion to one another.

At its lower end the rotary disk 69 has an extension 76 provided with upturned lugs 77 perforated to receive apivot 78 of the hinged plate 55, this latter plate having lugs 81 and being held in place against the rotary disk 69 by means of a spring 82 coiled about the pivot rod 78 and engaging the hinged plate 55 at its center and having its ends secured in a pair of hooks 85 rising from the extension 76. a

In addition to an arcuate portion 86' adapted to engage the free end of the spring 63 the swinging plate 55 carries a relatively long arm 88 in which is pivoted the detector roller 64. The extensions 89 on the arm 88 serve as paper guides directing the paper 90 between the roller 64 and the platen 10.

When no paper is in the machine the roller 64 rests within the groove 11 and the swinging plate 55 is held by its weak spring .82 against the collar 68 of the base plate 67,

the power of'the spring 82 being sufiicient-ly great. however, to hold the slide 38 at its outward limit of travel, in which osition the trip rod 31 rides in lower and ell-ringing position.

When paper is between the platen and the desired relaroller or detector 64 the swinging plate 55 is moved against the force of the spring 82 into the position shown in lFi d or between that positionand the position shown in Fig. 9, in either event theslide being at its inner limit of travel and the swinging plate 55 being turned about its pivot 78 and out of contact with the collar 68. In this osition the trip rod 311. ridesat the higher ,level and the trip 32 is therefore restricted to a path above and out of contact with the tongue 39 which controls the hammer d3 of the ong.

at l. claim is: p

1. in a device of the character described,

a platen, a carrier arm, a pawl thereon for revolving said and means carried by said carrier arm for operating said signal mechanism upon each reciprocation of said carrier arm.

2. lln a device of the character described, a platen, line spacing mechanism, sial mechanism, a trip carried by saidline spacing, mechanism for operating said signal mechanism, and means governed by the bottom of the aper being written upon forpositioning said trip mechanism,

3. In a bottom margin signalling device, a platen, signal mechanism, means for rendering said signal mechanism inoperative, a detector mechanism operatively connected thereto, and means for adjusting said detector mechanism about the periphery oi? the platen. J

4i. lln a bottom margin signalling device for typewriters, a platen, a line spacing reciprocating member, means carried thereby for revolving said platen, an audible signal device, means carried by said reciprocating member for operating said audible signal, means for detecting the passage of the bottom of a sheet of paper past a predetermined point, and means cooperating with the means carried by said reciprocating member for rendering same inoperative until after passa e of the bottom of the sheet past said predetermined point.

5. lln a device otthe character described, a detector, and means for causing a warning to be'given, after passage of a sheet of paper past said detector, immediately before and also immediately after return movement of the carriage.

6. ln device of the character described, a detector, and means for causing a warning consisting of a plurality oi audible sounds to be given, after passage of a sheet of paper past said detector, immediately helore and also immediately after return movement of the carriage.

7. in a device of the character described, a signal mechanism controlled by the loca tion of the bottom edge of the sheet of paper, a reciprocating trip, and means moving transversely to the movement a said trip platen, signal mechanism,

with the axis nceaeoa for guiding said tri into and out of a path where it would contact with and operate said signal mechanism.

8. in a device or the character described, a platen, a detector, a sliding guide controlled by said detector, signal mechanism, and means controlled by t e relative posi tion of the bottom of the paper and the detector for sliding said guide to render inoperative said signaling mechanism,

9. in a device of the character described, a detector, trip positioning means operated by said detector, signal mechanism and trip -mechanism for operating said signal mechanism and adapted to deflect said positioning mechanism until a predetermined margin from the bottom is reached so that until such time said signal mechanism shall be inoperative.

10. in a device of the character described, a signal mechanism for indicating the passage of the bottom of a sheet of paper being written upon past a predetermined point, and means pivoted concentrically of the platen for altering at will said predetermined point.

11. in a device of the character described, a pivoted bell hammer, a reciprocating member, an arcuate cam on said hammer and lying in the path of said member, a detectbr, and means operated by said detector for raising said member above said cam.

12. lln a device of the character described, a pivoted bell hammer, a reciprocating member, an arcuate cam on said hammer and lying in the path of said member, a detector, a slide movable transversely of said member to raise same above said cam, and means for operatively connecting said detector and slide.

13. lln a device of the character described, a detector, a bell, and means for ringing said bell twice on each forward and each backward movement of the line space lever after passage of a sheet of paper past said detector.

l t. lln a device of the'character described, a plate pivotally mounted with the platen, a

vhinged member carried by saidplate, a detector carried by said member, and an alarm mechanism controlling slide operated by said hinged member.

15. lln a device of the character described, a plate pivotallymounted concentric with the platen, means for locking said plate at any desired angular relation with respect to the carriage frame, a detector pivoted to said plate,- a signal mechanism, and means operatively connecting said vmechanham to said detector.

l6. lln a device of the character described, a plate pivotally'mounted concentric with the platen, means for loclring said plate against pivotal movement, pivotally mounted detector mechanism carried by said plate,

a freely moving guide, a spring on one end of said guide and in the path of pivotal movement of said detector mechanism.

17. In a device of the character described, a plate pivotally mounted concentric with respect to the platen, a member hinged to said plate, a detector carried by said member, a slide adapted to moved in one direction by said member, and a spring lying in the path of said member as it is moved 10 about its hinge as a pivot by contact of the detector with paper upon the platen.

FLOYD E. WHITLATCH. 

